Portland City Councilor Pious Ali has been elected to serve on the National League of Cities (NLC) 2020 Race, Equity and Leadership (REAL) Council. These councils provide space for local leaders to connect with other municipal officials representing similar communities and facing common challenges. 

“I am very grateful for the opportunity to represent Portland on this Council,” said Councilor Pious Ali. “I look forward to the sharing of ideas and learning some of the successful best practices used by other cities to eliminate racial disparities, advance racial equity and build an equitable thriving community, where everyone feels they are welcomed and belong to our city.” 

NLC’s REAL initiative serves to strengthen local leaders’ knowledge and capacity to eliminate racial disparities, heal racial divisions, and build more equitable communities. Through training and online resources, REAL helps NLC members build safe places where people from all racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds thrive socially, economically, academically and physically.

As a member of this Council, Councilor Ali will play a key role in identifying common trends across municipalities and developing policy options and responses for cities, towns and villages. 

This year’s REAL Council leadership team consists of co-chairs Lovely Warren, mayor, Rochester, NY, and Kate Stewart, mayor, Takoma Park, MD and co-vice chairs Jake Spano, mayor, St. Louis Park, MN and Victoria Woodards, mayor, Tacoma, WA.

For more information on NLC’s Member Councils, visit: https://www.nlc.org/membership/groups-networks. 

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The National League of Cities (NLC) is dedicated to helping city leaders build better communities. NLC is a resource and advocate for 19,000 cities, towns and villages, representing more than 218 million Americans. www.nlc.org